Europe

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was disappointed that he was only asked about the referee's decisions after his side earned a 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Sunday to climb above Barcelona and top LaLiga.

The day before the game, Zidane had been forced to defend his team against a suggestion from Barça defender Gerard Piqué that decisions were going Madrid's way after their 3-0 win over Valencia, in which Rodrigo had an opening goal ruled out.

Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has rubbished suggestions of a falling out with midfielder Miralem Pjanic and is confident Cristiano Ronaldo will quickly bounce back from his disappointing restart to the season.

Sarri has quickly found himself under pressure after Juventus were beaten on penalties by Napoli in Wednesday's Coppa Italia final.

The only other game they have contested since the three-month stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was the Coppa semifinal at home to AC Milan five days earlier, which also ended 0-0 after Ronaldo missed a penalty.

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is set to miss the team's next match against Athletic Bilbao after the club said in a statement on Sunday he had injured the calf muscle in his right leg.

Dutch international De Jong missed Friday's 0-0 draw away to Sevilla which dented Barca's hopes of winning the Spanish title, with coach Quique Setien saying before the game he was leaving the player out as a precaution.

Real Betis became the first LaLiga club to sack a coach since the season re-started after being halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, firing Rubi who failed to win any of the team's first three matches in their return to action.

Betis lost their first game back 2-0 to Sevilla and drew 2-2 with Granada in mid-week while the final straw proved to be Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao, after Sergio Canales missed a late penalty.

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch men's and women's national football team players said on Friday they would no longer grant interviews to a popular TV show due to remarks made by a commentator mocking an anti-racism protester.

In a statement first published on Twitter by men's team captain Virgil van Dijk, the players said they would no longer speak with the Veronica Inside program after the host compared a prominent Dutch black activist to "Black Pete."

Is there a weirder new normal than what Real Madrid is experiencing? As well as playing behind closed doors, the 13-time European champion's temporary home for the rest of the season is the 6,000-seat Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium, the reserve side's ground.

Located on the sprawling training center in Valdebebas, players don’t arrive to the stadium by bus, they just sort of appear on the horizon at Ciudad Real Madrid and meander over like a high school team. 

European soccer body UEFA has temporarily relaxed its break-even rule known as Financial Fair Play, saying it wants to make sure that clubs are not penalized for unforeseen losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic this season.

The European soccer body said in a statement that clubs' accounts for the 2020 and 2021 financial years would be assessed together rather than separately, to give clubs time to recuperate from losses suffered during the last three months.

Celta Vigo’s backup goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez is out for the season with knee ligament damage he suffered in May. Due to Alvarez being out for the season, the Spanish football authorities granted Celta permission to make an emergency signing of another player in LaLiga or a free agent. 

With the No. 2 keeper injured, most people would expect the club to sign a player to take his place. Instead, Celta decided that the only way to avoid relegation — only two points separates the club from the relegation zone — is with the signing of its former striker Nolito from Sevilla.

Last night in Rome, Napoli captured the Coppa Italia by defeating Juventus on penalties to send Naples into raptures. There are few cities on the planet that are so culturally and socially intertwined with their football club, and a first major honor since 2014 — coupled with the fact that it was achieved against Cristiano Ronaldo and 94-year rival Juve — drew fans out onto the streets to celebrate into the early hours.

Serie A has not even restarted following the coronavirus stoppage, yet pressure is already mounting on Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri following his side's failure to win the Coppa Italia.